My host family had been a bit sad that they couldn't offer me anything better than a course that was 40 minutes away but by direct tram... All in all it might take around 40 minutes to get there but the tram ride itself is only 30 minutes - that's shorter than to my boyfriend back home!
So I went there with my headphones and Sherlock Holmes in case I'd get bored. But actually I fell semi-asleep on the way there.
There were only four other girls at the course, apparently very many were absent today but normally we shouldn't be any more than nine. Three of them were also au pairs but I think the last one was married to a French - and she was considerably older, and from Vietnam.
They were apparently surprised by my almost complete lack of accent and when they had "question" time to get to know me (because they already knew each other), I was asked which languages I spoke so obviously I had to tell them that I spoke four fluently and two that I were studying: French and Spanish.
Then (read this, language lovers like me): the teacher told us that a few years ago she had had a male student who spoke 8 languages fluently. He always talked to the foreign students in their languages: Portuguese, Russian, German, English, Chinese, I think Italian and you see, it's so many languages I don't even remember which ones she counted. Now what's more: he came sometime in September as a complete beginner in French, and at the end of the academic year (May) he finished his DALF exam on C2 level (the highest level on the International Diploma in French, meaning that you're fluent).
She had never seen anyone like him - and why yes, I envy him! On the other hand she said he had had no imagination, as in he never went out or did anything with people that invited him to various things; he always stayed at home and studied...but still.
On the way home there were two other girls taking the same tram back as me, and I learnt that 30 minutes in a single tram really wasn't all that bad (and I had never claimed it was). One of them got of in the city center, then had to change to a bus, then change to another bus somewhere else! It took her 3 hours to get back and forth. The other one went a bit further (only about 4-5 stops from where I get off) but she has to change to bus as well. Just the wait takes 20 minutes, and then the bus ride itself another 40 minutes! I told her that I would pretty much be at home when she got on the bus! So much effort for taking those French courses...
Anyway, I believe I don't have much more to write about...
Until next time!